


joy to the world

by Murf1307



Series: 2017 Holiday OTP Fic Blast [4]
Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alex’s Thing About Physical Mutations, Canon Compliant, Christmas Fluff, Darwin Lives, M/M, Reunions, mostly pre-slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-12
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2019-03-03 19:18:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13347795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Murf1307/pseuds/Murf1307
Summary: Alex and Darwin reunite in the snow, and Christmas, 1962 gets a little bit brighter as a result.





	joy to the world

In the winter, the sun is small and white and covered in a thin, cloudy haze. Alex has never been a fan, but this year feels so much worse. You’d think the winter he’d been in prison would be worse, but...no such luck.

Charles is struggling, his whole outward persona of serene acceptance so thin that a stiff breeze could probably undo him. Sean sleeps too much and barely eats. Alex hasn’t seen Hank in a week, because Hank practically locks himself in his lab, working himself to the bone.

Moira’s been doing her best, but she’s nobody’s mom or wife or anything, and she shouldn’t have to anyway even if she was.

So, Alex spends a lot of time outside, alone. It snowed last night, and the grounds of the mansion glitter with an inch or two of it. It’s supposed to snow more tonight, over Christmas Eve, maybe into Christmas Day. Alex wonders if that’ll matter, if anyone else has even noticed the date.

He leans against the outer wall of the house, hands in his pockets. Not for the first time, he wishes Darwin were here.

Darwin would know what to do. Darwin would’ve done _something_ on that beach, whether or not it would’ve killed him, and the almost and the maybes are their own kind of personal hell. Alex shouldn’t dive in, but he does.

At least it gives him something to think about.

He looks up at the hazy sun and exhales, his breath clouding in front of him. He remembers Darwin’s hand on his wrist, on his chest —

_In his hair, that night, when they went to go get more pop for the rec room, and Darwin had pulled him in and asked, direct, if Alex wanted to kiss him._

_God_. If there was anything he could’ve wanted for Christmas, well, it would be that. Darwin, here, in front of him, whole and hale and as blunt as Alex has always needed him to be — god, that would be a Christmas miracle.

He closes his eyes and tries to soak up what little sun he can.

It takes a little while, but then he...he feels something. In his chest, warm and buzzing, unfurling like a flag on a hill. He keeps his eyes shut and swallows, not sure what it is, not sure he likes the sensation.

It almost feels like hope, after all, and where has hope ever gotten him?

The feeling in his chest grows, twists, and now it almost feels like he’s gonna let off a blast, but it’s not quite the same. He frowns against the feeling, unsettled —

And then there’s a flash of light, and his eyes burst open.

When the glare clears, he freezes stock-still, because standing before him, vaguely transparent and completely nude, is _Darwin_.

“Holy fucking shit,” Alex breathes, and his knees are a little weak.

Darwin looks a little different — still recognizable, for sure, but all his hair’s gone now, and his eyes are all white. It’s...a good look on him, and Alex has no idea _what_ to think.

“Alex?” Darwin asks, or tries to — he can’t seem to make the words audible yet, but it’s easy to read his lips when all they’re saying is Alex’s name.

“Yeah. Fuck, Darwin, you’re — are you — are you alive?” He has no idea what’s happening, just that he _felt_ something, and there was a flash of light, and now here Darwin is, standing before him.

Naked, yeah, and kind of a ghost, but still. He’s _here_.

Darwin visibly swallows, and his top half goes a little more solid. “Yeah. Shit, Alex — I think, did we...I think I might’ve fused onto you.” He frowns. “What _happened_?”

Alex wants to reach for him, but he holds himself back. “A lot of bad shit,” he says. “Shaw’s dead, though. Pretty sure he died ugly, which is pretty good.”

Darwin laughs a little. “Yeah, probably.”

“Uh, Erik and Raven left, and Charles’ back’s all messed up, so he can’t walk, and Hank’s blue now, so...I think that about covers the basics?” Alex steps away from the wall a little shakily. “Do you, like, remember anything?”

“I...I think I remember a...an underground bunker? And a beach.” He solidifies a little more. “I think the beach didn’t go so great?”

Alex nods. “Yeah, that was a shitty day,” he says.

“...You’ve been...sad.”

“...Yeah.” It’s been hard, and while he’s been managing, he’s been really fucking lonely.

Darwin reaches out and lays his hand against Alex’s chest, where he had the night he “died.” “Miss me, hotshot?” he teases, a smirk pulling gently at the side of his mouth.

Alex nods again. “Yeah. Yeah, I did.”

“Well, here I am.”

“Yeah. Here you are.” Alex wraps his hand around Darwin’s wrist and squeezes gently. “Like some kinda Christmas miracle.”

“It’s Christmas?”

“Christmas Eve, so close enough.” He’s smiling now, because it’s really hitting him. Darwin’s _alive_ , and he’s standing _right there_.

Darwin laughs. “Oh man, that’s — that’s kinda cool.”

“Yeah. Definitely cool.” He looks Darwin up and down, just a little. “Should probably warm you up, though, considering you’re kinda...y’know.”

“Oh, shit,” Darwin says, laughing still. “Didn’t realize I was naked.”

Alex snorts a little. “Kinda the _first_ thing I noticed, sorry.”

“You cad.” It’s an exaggerated insult, and when Alex laughs at it, so does Darwin, and he adds, “Yeah, we should probably — where are we?”

“Home,” Alex says.

And for the first time, it feels true. Alex feels at home, standing here in front of Darwin.

Darwin gives him a look. “Okay, but where’s _that_?”

Alex laughs a little. “Westchester. Charles’s family owns this mansion,” he says, gesturing to the building behind him. “So we live here now.”

“Cool,” Darwin echoes. “And who’s ‘we?’”

“Charles, Moira for now, Hank, Sean, me, and, uh…” Alex can’t help but blush a little… “You too, now, if you want.” It isn’t negotiable. If Darwin wants to be here, Alex plans to goddamn make it so.

Darwin smiles at him, a smile so sweet Alex could die of it. “I think I’d like that.”

“Then let’s get you inside,” he says, smirking just a little. “Nice as you look like this, I don’t wanna see you freeze anything off before you finish solidifying, you know?”

Darwin bursts out laughing, and for just a second, Alex can’t help but feel like he’s standing in the best patch of summer sun he’s ever felt.

“I mean it!” Alex says, grinning, and offers Darwin his hand. Darwin takes it, and now, everything feels just fine.

As they walk inside, Darwin leans over and murmurs, “Merry Christmas.”

From his mouth, even at the end of this terrible year, it feels right.


End file.
